How Retread Tires Protect the Environment

Retread tires deliver financial and performance advantages to commercial fleets. They also reduce environmental pollution and landfill mass.

Used Tires in Landfills

The United States generates hundreds of millions of scrap tires each year. Their durable structure, composition and heat-retaining properties make them hazardous to the environment and human health.

Consider the following:

• A tire’s curved shape can collect water, making it a breeding ground for mosquitoes carrying the West Nile virus.
• Tires contain carcinogenic chemicals and heavy metals like lead that leach into the surrounding soil and groundwater. That can prove dangerous for plants and wildlife.
• Scrap tires take up lots of space, but some states prohibit the disposal of whole and shredded scrap tires in landfills. That leads to illegal dumping.
• The negative space in scrap tires makes them difficult to compress and increases the risk of rebounds, falls and rolls, which can injure landfill workers.
• Tires are excellent at retaining heat, so they’re a combustion risk. Uncontrolled tire fires can burn for extended periods and release chemicals and toxins into the atmosphere. Tire fires also leave an oily residue.

Retreading tires makes less of an environmental impact than making single-use tires.

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The Environmental Advantages of Retread Tires

Oil use: Manufacturing tires requires significant amounts of petroleum and other oil derivatives. It takes about 22 gallons of oil to make one new tire but only seven gallons to make a retread.

Resource demand: Retreading demands 90 to 100 pounds fewer raw materials and other resources than new tire production.

Energy consumption: The retreading process consumes 68% less energy, which is enough to power one home for 33 days. It also produces less carbon dioxide and other harmful emissions that affect the atmosphere and air quality.

Landfill mass: Reusing the original casing during retreading prevents millions of pounds of scrap tires from ending up in landfills. In 2018 alone, retreading saved 1.4 million pounds of scrap from going into garbage dumps and landfills in the U.S. and Canada.

Recycling: About 89,000 tons of rubber is buffed from tires each year in the U.S. That material can be repurposed for playgrounds, gym surfaces, football fields, rubber mats and mulch.

Fuel efficiency: Retread tires are more fuel-efficient than cheaper foreign-made tires, which will help you regulate your fleet’s emissions.

Using commercial retread tires also provides economic benefits. Retread tires cost less to run per mile: roughly 1.5 cents versus 4.5 cents for new tires. And because retreading retains the original tire casing while replacing the tread, you’ll enjoy thousands more miles from your investment.

Are you looking for quality commercial tire retreads? Find a Bauer Built location near you and talk with our team today.

Categories: Bauer Built Blog